For many of us (including myself) this upcoming November will be the first election we are able to vote in. Yay us! However, there are lots of people who are at a loss right now, unsure of what on earth to do with their votes. I am NOT telling you who to vote for. Even if I did, you wouldn’t listen, so I will not bother. But I will tell you how to make sure you’re using your vote in the best way possible.
We are finally at the age where we can be part of the decision, so we need to make this count. Realize that a vote for Trump will actually have an affect, and so will a vote for Hillary. These are real issues, and this is a real election. Don’t vote for Trump just to be able to say that you did- vote for him because you truly believe in what he stands for. Looking back on this election, you want to know that you voted for the candidate you truly thought was best, not the one that would make the best joke in a few years.
For me personally- I knew nothing about voting. I had no idea how it worked, how to register, what the primaries were, or if my vote really even mattered. And then the candidate I support lost the primaries, and I realized that I should have figured all of those things out a lot sooner. I have heard from many people that they did the same thing.
So, first thing is first, educate yourself on the voting process! There are many websites that you can read through, and if those don’t explain it fully, you can always ask a teacher, parent, or friend. Learn about the electoral college, and registering to vote (the deadline is October 19th, hurry!). Having conversations with people about the election process can really help you figure out whether you fully understand things or not.
After you get the gist of things, you need to figure out which candidate you support. Many of you, I’m sure, have some idea of who you support. However, do you truly know what they stand for? Do you know their plans for the country once they enter the White House? If you read that and thought to yourself: “yes, i watched the debate!” - please know that there is so much more to the candidates than what they said in the debates, especially the second one. Yes, debates can be very telling of how the candidates behave towards others, but most of the second debate was spent repeating the same points of argument over and over again, and we did not get a lot of their plans.
Go to the candidates’ websites- all of them! Yes, all. Jill Stein will be on the ballot in most states (all excluding OK, NV, & SD) and Bernie Sanders can be written into the ballot in all 50 states! Find out what they believe in and what their actual plans are, and then decide who you support more.
Voting isn't all about the president- make sure you read up on the ballot questions as well and decide where you stand on those! Just like your presidential votes, your votes for these questions are very important, and make sure you read up on them before just voting yes or no.
Lastly, make sure you register to vote! If you just type it into the search bar, you can do it right there online. You don't have to go to a huge building and stand in line for hours- it's right there on your computer. That means there's no excuse not to register!
Deciding who and what to vote for is very important, especially for us. Whoever we vote for will run our whole country for the next four years! That's a really big deal. And, don't let anyone make you think that your vote doesn't matter. Every vote matters, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the results from the primary election!
In all honestly, though. The best decision you can make on November 8th is to vote. If you care about this country as much as all your Facebook posts say you do on 4th of July and when tragedy strikes, then you should have a say in who runs it!
